Zambrano apparently told club staff that he was retiring after the ejection. Sadly, two hours later, Zambrano’s agent made it clear that his client was not going to retire; instead, the Cubs put Zambrano on the disqualified list for 30 days.

Cubs general manager, Jim Hendry, said that it was the harshest punishment without actually releasing Zambrano. My question is: Why didn’t Hendry release Zambrano?

Zambrano has a history of being a loud-mouth, arrogant, and I’d say a very narcissistic player who has had some good years but who will no doubt be remembered as an overrated baseball player. It’s not that this day comes as a surprise to any Cubs fan. Zambrano had been trekking on a slow but sure mental downfall. It amazes me how an orphan-adopting and church-building person off the field can be become such a menace on the field.

There are a handful of players in every major league sport that act like this, but they still somehow get jobs from teams. The Cubs are one of these teams. In addition to Zambrano, they signed Milton Bradley, a player known to almost always start controversy, after he had a few good years. We all know how that ended.

What these guys (and most players who fall into this category) have in common is talent plus one or a few good seasons, and because of this teams are willing to take the risk.

I always found that to be disgusting.

Does anyone or any team in sports have dignity anymore? I can understand that teams want to win, but thinking these players will change usually causes more problems than anything. Thinking guys like this can help solve the team’s problems long-term is really asinine.

I totally believe in giving people second chances, but there comes a point where you must draw a line.

You would think the Cubs are already embarrassed enough to have not won a World Series in 103 years that they would think twice before signing players who have a knack of embarrassing the teams they play for. While Zambrano started off very strong in his early seasons, he slowly progressed into a completely unstable baseball player. This incident was nothing new. Things like this have been happening for a few years now, and it’s finally coming back to bite the Cubs in the ass.

It’s time release Zambrano and eat his $19 million salary. It could be the beginning of a much-needed clean-up, one that is imperative if the Cubs ever want to win a World Series again.

Arenas, who was convicted of bringing in guns to the team’s locker room last month, has been continually harassed and ambushed by media outlets, fans and many alike searching for an answer.

Who? What? When? Where? and Why?

Well Stern has answered one question to the whole Arenas mess, and that is his NBA consequence. (can’t wait to hear how long he’ll spend in the slammer).

Wizards G/F Javaris Crittenton will also be suspended for the Dec.21st gun incident, as he also has as much responsibility as Arenas in this case.

“There is no justification for their conduct,” Stern said.

Arenas strongly agrees with Stern’s decision, as he stated in his last game (Jan.5th), that Stern should banish him for the rest of the season for the act.

“The possession of firearms by an NBA player in an NBA arena is a matter of the utmost concern to us. I initially thought it prudent to refrain from taking immediate action because of the pendency of a criminal investigation involving the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and the Metropolitan Police Department, and the consideration of this matter by a grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia. For the same reason, I directed the Wizards to refrain from taking any action, ” states Stern.

Not only will he be gone for the year, but there is a good chance that the Wizard’s star will face up to 6 months in prison.

While Crittenton was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation, and community service after he plead guilty.

Meanwhile, the Wizards must figure something out to do with the mess. Many folk suggest that Washington just might void the contract of Arenas, whom has 4 years remaining on the contract, with $80 million left, and currently making $16 million this season.

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Gilbert Arenas photo credit: PHOTO: SLOCUM/AP

Freshman Royce White and senior Devron Bostick have been suspended indefinitely from the Gophers men’s basketball team for a violation of team rules, coach Tubby Smith said Tuesday morning. Smith provided no additional details about the disciplinary action.

The Gophers’ exhibition slate begins Thursday night as Tubby Smith and the team looks to build on last season’s 22-11 record and appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Most prognosticators have the Gophers rated as the 6th best team in the Big Ten.

Bostick averaged just over four points per game last season as a junior. Royce White was a four-star recruit who was rated as the #10 PF in the class of 2009.

This post is for 2008!!!

Follow the link to see the 2009 NFL playoff picture and Week 17 scenarios for the AFC and NFC.

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The National Football League handed down suspensions today that will last the remainder of the season to those who were caught using a banned diuretic. Included in those suspended are Kevin Williams and Pat Williams who make up the heart of the Vikings 2nd ranked run defense and one of the best pass rush duos in the league.

Throughout the season, the Pat and Kevin Williams made up one of the strongest units on the Vikings squad. The two completely dominated the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of the ball, and allowed the Vikings to take advantage of their high octane running game behind Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. They controlled the clock, they stopped the run, and they pressured the opposing quarterback. Without a doubt, these two players were a major key to the Vikings success this season.

Now, all may be lost as the Williamses will have to sit out the remainder of the season which includes a tough slate of very good offenses to close out the season (and the Lions, which are up on Sunday). Aside from the Lions game, though, the Vikings will face the Cardinals, Falcons and Giants in a three game slate that now could allow either the Packers or Bears to jump back into the lead of the division because without Pat Williams and Kevin Williams doing what they do best, all three games could be losses.

How will they win if Kurt Warner has all the time in the world to pick apart their shaky secondary? Who will step up and stop Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood? How can they prevent the Giants from completely dominating them to close out the season? The Vikings already had the toughest remaining schedule of all three contenders for the NFC North, but without Pat and Kevin Williams, the degree of difficulty might very well have doubled. In looking at the rest of the division’s remaining games, it looks like a door closed on the Vikings, and opened for someone else.

In the final three games, the Packers will play Houston, Jacksonville, Chicago, and Detroit while the Bears will have Jacksonville, New Orleans, Green Bay and Houston. If the Vikings start losing, the Monday night showdown between the Packers and Bears could very well decide who will win the NFC Norris this season.

The NFC North division just got a whole lot more interesting.

This morning, Mary-Kay Cabot of the Plain-Dealer is reporting that the Cleveland Browns have decided to rescind Kellen Winslow’s one-game suspension after it came to light that a Browns PR employee had text messaged Winslow and told him to keep quiet about his staph infection. Browns management apparently had not been previously made aware of these text messages. According to the Plain-Dealer:

The text messages urged Winslow not to reveal his staph infection and said General Manager Phil Savage would get involved if he did. Winslow was also told in the texts that revealing staph would touch off a firestorm.

On Saturday, Browns owner Randy Lerner called Kellen Winslow to apologize to the tight end for how the situation had unfolded. Despite the lifting of the suspension, Kellen Winslow will still be required to pay a $25,000 fine for his comments regarding the Cleveland Browns not protection players from staph infections; however, he will not lose his game check for today’s game, nor will he be required to officially apologize to the team.

As to the most important component of all of this for the Browns and the team’s fans, Kellen Winslow still will not play today in the Cleveland Browns game against the Jaguars. He was not allowed to participate in team functions this week and had traveled back home to San Diego on Thursday. The following is a statement from Kellen Winslow in the wake of the Browns lifting his suspension:

“This past week has been trying for all parties involved. As you know, I contracted staph for the second time in my career and was hospitalized for four days. I spoke out on this because I felt it was the right thing to do. This had nothing to do with football. This was and remains a serious health concern.

“I do realize that I am a public person and my words, whether constructively articulated or expressed emotionally, carry a lot of weight in the public arena. My intentions were never meant to be disruptive or distracting to the Browns organization, but rather to voice my concerns about my medical condition. I am confident that the Browns organization has taken the necessary steps to make our facility a healthy working environment.

“I formally reiterate my respect for the Browns organization, my teammates and the city of Cleveland. I look forward to getting back to playing football and being a productive member of this team. It’s now time to focus on winning.”

As more details emerge about this story, it looks less and less favorable for the Browns organization and makes me feel a little sillier for siding mostly with the Browns and not at all with Winslow. As usual, the truth and fault still lies somewhere in the middle, but there is no question that this has been a huge PR nightmare for the team.

According to the Cabot story in the Plain-Dealer, Kellen Winslow had planned on clearing the air about his hospitalization even while in the Cleveland Clinic. Many websites, including Midwest Sports Fans, ran with the varied rumors that sprouted up regarding why Kellen Winslow had been in the hospital. Even if he had a staph infection, the rumors of testicular swelling could still be true — but obviously there was much more to the story than originally met the eye.

Reportedly, Winslow did not disclose the nature of his hospitalization because he and his representatives felt pressure from the public relations staff to keep quiet. This pressure came in the form of the afore mentioned text messages, that Winslow apparently believed had been directed from the organization. The confrontation between Kellen Winslow and Browns GM Phil Savage in the tunnel after the Redskins game, which Savage claimed was not heated, apparently occurred with Winslow under the impression that Savage was “on board” with the directive that Winslow not disclose that he had a staph infection.

In response to a question regarding whether he knew about the text messages, Savage said: “We have settled and are ready to move forward. In 3-plus years, the medical staff has always informed me of a player’s wishes in terms of maintaining confidentiality or releasing his records.”

Part of the settlement Kellen Winslow reached the Browns says that he will never be prevented from making public comments regarding health and safety concerns about the working conditions at the Browns facility.

Obviously, with this story still being hot off the presses, there will be more to come later. I am sure that the Browns would like to sweep this under the rug and not deal with it anymore — but questions still remain. Whether Phil Savage knew about the text messages or not, was there a general organizational directive to pressure players in any way about not revealing the nature of injuries/illnesses if they were staph-related? Was this just a rogue PR person making a misguided attempt to keep the “best interests” of the organization in mind? Can the Browns and Kellen Winslow repair an obviously fractured relationship and truly move forward?

Who knows. We’ll have to see how the next week, the rest of the season, and the offseason play out to get more clarity and closure on this situation. One thing seems certain: to a certain extent, Kellen Winslow has been vindicated in the court of public opinion; and the Cleveland Browns are not left to explain their side of the story and pick up the pieces of this mess. Because of the suspension, the Browns now go into a huge road game against an AFC opponent without one of their best offensive players, when he very easily could have (and should have) been on the field. But the fact that Kellen Winslow is not playing today does give us a chance to answer another pressing question that has been floating around Browns fandom:

Is the team better off without Kellen Winslow anyway?

Today’s game will give the Browns another chance to find out, but based on the reports surfacing this morning, it’s a chance that never should have occurred.

[tags]cleveland browns, kellen winslow, nfl, football, suspension, staph infection[/tags]